1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a launderable reinforced body suit and to a decontamination process for laundering the contaminated reinforced body suit and decontaminating the suit in an environmentally contained, controlled, and safe facility.
2. Background of the Invention
The contamination of our living environment with hazardous materials and listed contaminants, e.g., such as asbestos and/or lead, silica dust, titanium dioxide dust, or carbon dust is a serious, but well known problem. Abatement programs, for instance, of the asbestos and/or lead, silica dust, titanium dioxide dust, or carbon dust contaminants from buildings of all types and other structures such as public bridges are major undertakings costing billions of dollars every year.
During the abatement processes for removing these and other contaminants, workers are required to wear protective clothing in addition to respirators equipped with HEPA (high efficiency particulate absolute) filter cartridges.
Conventional protective clothing includes heavy duty rubber suits which do not work well because they are heavy, bulky, and hot to wear, especially in conjunction with or during rigorous physical activity by the wearer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,216 discloses a self-ventilating, totally encapsulating protective garment having a hood covering the operator's head. Pressurized air fed to the suit facilitates breathing and provides a cooling effect.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,496,572 discloses a dust-proof body suit having arm inner sleeve 13 and outer sleeve 14 and leg inner sleeve 17 and outer sleeve 19.
The protective clothing typically is disposed after use as contaminated material. Throw-away disposal aggravates another serious problem, i.e., the build-up of large quantities of contaminated solid waste, thereby increasing an already heavy burden imposed on landfills nationwide in addition to the cost of replacing the contaminated clothing.
Recycling has become a serious obligation of every citizen, and it is becoming law in many instances. Recycling by laundering the clothing used in the abatement projects for asbestos and lead, silica dust, titanium dioxide dust, or carbon dust could become a major contribution to the reduction of the solid waste problem, so long as the following protections are provided.
a. Safety procedures and facilities are included in the laundering process to protect the operator's health and to protect the surrounding atmosphere and water resources from contamination.
b. Methods and facilities are in place to prevent the clothing from becoming re-contaminated within the work area of the laundering facility, after they have been laundered and before they leave the laundering facility.
c. Any quantity of the contaminants found on the laundered suits, after they exit the laundering facility, is limited to insignificant levels or at most the maximum allowed by regulations.
d. No waste water will be disposed through the sewer system which is not in compliance with EPA regulations for maximum allowable content for the above-mentioned contaminants.
Requirements to take waste water samples, exhaust air samples, containment area and cleaning fluid filtering area air samples, and their analyses arise because discharges are regulated from facilities with a potential for contaminating the nation's environments, including worker environments. Discharges are regulated by federal, state, and local agencies, e.g., such as by the EPA, OSHA, and others which have established regulations and standards and which police and enforce such regulations and standards for waste water and air discharges to the outdoor environment and to operator work areas.
The protective clothing available commercially today typically is designed to be disposable and suffers from the drawback that the clothing wears out quickly during normal use. Such disposable clothing also suffers from an inability to undergo any laundering process, much less the rigorous laundering required to remove hazardous materials from the contaminated clothing. Accordingly, a new body suit is needed which does not wear out quickly through successive use under normal industrial wear conditions or through the laundering process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,716 discloses a reinforced jump suit to provide a one-piece garment containing safety and injury-preventive features for industrial workers. Knee supports 304 are made of Nomex aramid fiber. Knee padding 308 is provided by a high density flexible plastic foam. Elbow supports 343 are of Nomex. The patent teaches that Kevlar should not be commercially laundered. (Col. 14, lines 47-60.)
U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,919 discloses a coat having an outer layer of Nomex or Kevlar and an inner layer of Gore-Tex.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,116 discloses removable forearm gaiters and leg gaiters to provide abrasion resistance.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,953 discloses a detachable protective sleeve and is a representative example of many detachable protectors.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,691,564 discloses a protective sleeve 20 which can be a glass fiber reinforced metallized non-combustible plastic. The protective sleeve 20 extends from just above the wrist to about the tricep level and is oriented to cover the wearer's arm exposed to working such as welding.
U.S. Pat. No. 375,958 discloses a protective sleeve to cover the wearer's arm exposed to working such as plastering.
German Offenlegungsschrift 2,543,046 discloses knee, seat, and elbow reinforcements.
French patent application 2,256,729 discloses knee, seat, and elbow reinforcements for abrasion resistance and protection against light missiles.
It is an object of the present invention to provide novel protective clothing.
It is another object of the present invention to provide novel protective clothing for wearing during removal of contaminants from living areas.
It is another object of the present invention to provide novel protective clothing for wearing during removal of contaminants from our living environment in the abatement of hazardous materials and listed contaminants such as asbestos and/or lead, silica dust, titanium dioxide dust, or carbon dust.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel decontamination process for laundering such contaminated protective clothing and to provide safety devices, procedures, controls, and regular testings as an intrinsic part of the laundering process.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a decontamination process for laundering and decontaminating various types of woven and non-woven fabric, permeable and impermeable protective clothing.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel decontamination process for testing the protective clothing at regular predetermined intervals by an independent laboratory for contaminant content, prior to and after laundering, to provide the laundered protective clothing does not get re-contaminated within the laundering facility.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide novel launderable protective clothing and facilities and methods for laundering contaminated protective clothing to protect the laundry operator's health and to protect the surrounding atmosphere from being contaminated with the listed contaminants from the laundering process.
A further object of the present invention is to provide novel launderable protective clothing and decontamination process for laundering asbestos and/or lead, silica dust, titanium dioxide dust, or carbon dust from such launderable protective clothing contaminated with asbestos and/or lead, silica dust, titanium dioxide dust, or carbon dust including facilities and methods combining microprocessor-controlled washer technology with a containment-area-controlled environment.
A further object of the present invention is to provide novel launderable protective clothing and a decontamination process for laundering asbestos and/or lead, silica dust, titanium dioxide dust, or carbon dust from such contaminated launderable protective clothing to decontaminate the launderable protective clothing in commercial laundries to provide a product that can be safely and comfortably worn through successive recycle and reuse.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description which follows.